First Listen/First Interview :: Ecstasy

"That agony and the ecstasy is a dynamic that we want to attain in some ways"


Without fanfair or much brouhaha, a few weeks before Christmas several tracks appeared without ceromony on Soundcloud by a band that probably were - and still - only known to their families and close friends.

Without as yet a manager, a PR or any hype or fanfair other than what their music stands by, Ecstasy have become one of the hottest names to kick off 2013.

The quartet who are London-based within a matter of weeks have created a buzz amongst bloggers, excited by the electronica/dreampop sound that sounds like everything and nothing you've heard or think you've heard before.

In their first ever interview, we put a few questions to vocalist and synth/samples man Joe for more on this intriguing foursome (also consisting of Laura, vocals; Rosemary, synths; James, guitars/synths/percussion).

I think a lot of people are intrigued as to who you are and where you've come from!

There are four of us at the moment - we have a drummer too, but he's not fully committed yet! - and we're all friends or friends of friends.

Why the name Ecstasy - could be more than one connotation here!?

Ha, I will accept this is true but we prefer the original meaning, kinda like Nirvana! Plus all the kids do 'MDMA' instead now anyway. The connotations of the word make it striking but just think of it as us trying to reclaim the word.

You're from London or at least London based, right?

We are all scattered about in London: west, south and Hertfordshire.

How would you describe your sound? Certainly electronic, but perhaps a little more to it than the usual...?

Yeah, it is very synth driven but I wouldn't go as so far to call it electronica because we retain rock structures to the songs. Ideally we'd like to sit in the indie world because when we start gigging we want it to very much be a live experience. We wouldn't wanna exist as two DJs hunched over laptops or anything like that.

The two tracks on Soundcloud - are they original works bar 'The Funeral'?

Yep. So far 'White Limos' and 'Shinjuku Bride' are our own works and we will be dropping more tracks over the next couple of months, plus another cover track - Rihanna actually!

Why choose that Band Of Horses cover in particular?

It's a majestic song and to be honest we are still trying to work out our sonics and aesthetic so covering tracks can help with that process. We didn't change it drastically but I think the synth basis and group vocal hopefully do take it into a different place from the original. For us it is a tune that manages to be depressing and dark and uplifting at the same time depending on the mood of the listener, that's what drew us to it. That agony and the ecstasy is a dynamic that we want to attain in some ways.

What were the three of you doing before and why haven't we heard of you before - or have we?!

Nothing much really. I have done music tech and did some electronica stuff but nothing was ever released and James also did music tech at uni. We met through his ex-girlfriend who is Rosemary's sister. Laura is a mate who was keen to do some vocals and I think her voice is great and is really beginning to take off with every extra session we do in the studio.

What are immediate plans for 2013?

We want to get enough tunes ready to start gigging, so maybe six or so, make sure we are all watertight with the live set and get some bookings. We also have some music videos in the pipeline. We are happy to self release the tracks on iTunes and Spotify or give away freebies for now.

So far you have done no gigs as Ecstasy? Is there anything in the pipeline? How are you looking at transforming your material to live performance?

All of the tracks are written with a view to be translated live. There is a lot of noise beds and pads in the tracks but as it is all loop based it will be easy to control with pedals and samples. It should be really exciting.